625630 Well, I've learned that if you start a series and then start delaying chapters, people won't like you posting oneshots.

I know.

I don't know what leads to the line. Probably people not knowing how hard it actually is to just sit down and write sometimes.

I really don't know how to avoid it.

in other words, write because you want to, not because people want more. It is your writing, be free in your creativity with it.

Also, if you are a person who bully's authors to write more, shame. They work hard and they do have lives outside the site. Please don't make it harder than it needs to be. May the derp be with you.

Fear of disappointing fans. As much as writers love to write, there's a distinct sense of pride and happiness whenever one's work is praised. It's a symbiotic relationship, so when fans desire more and heap praise on a writer, it's instinct to try to write more/become better as a counter balance. That's how I see it, anyway.

I wouldn't know. My following is quite meek

I always pride myself in meeting self-imposed deadlines. I think it's good practice for meeting other-people-imposed deadlines. But you have to make them realistic. Some authors can do a chapter a day. But some people don't work or go to school. I always put out a chapter a week, and usually another or a one-shot every other.

I don't really think that there's a line. I find that I've found a nice happy medium in between. Under 100 followers, with maybe 1 popular story is me. And I'm pretty happy with it.

625630

Well, there's obligations that you should set for yourself, not the readers. These obligations are to finish the stories you write - no one wants to wait 6 months for one blasted update. If you're not going to write that fiction - culminate ideas and what-not - then put it on hiatus. However, these obligations are suited for you, not your readers. Yes, they let the readers enjoy your writing, but being a sell-out is something I wouldn't want to be.

Now then, you have to have 'fun' with what you write. You don't want to write a fic about Spike dating Applebloom, and hate it because you find it boring - even if everyone else loves it. Then you feel boringly obligated to complete it. Spark something interesting and fun. Study what you make, and research it. I find it extremely fun finding the interesting concepts behind the concepts I've already made, and then I can add to it.

But, personally, how you can avoid crossing over these lines is to enjoy what you write, and to find it fun. That's all, really. You should feel obligated to finish your story, and you should feel good when it's finished. Sometimes, it's better to wait 6 months to release a complete story then wait 1 week to write two chapters and slowly release 254 more chapters afterwards.

Well, that's all I can think of, folks. Love ya!<3

625630
Well, setting deadlines for yourself is never a good thing when it comes to fan fiction.
Sure, it may get the job done through the means of self-pressuring yourself, but it leaves a lot less to be desired in the creativity department.
I always find myself coming back to chapters where I've just winged it.
Adding more description to each paragraph, or lessening it in some cases.

That's why I blog more, so that the fans would always know what I'm up to and that they wouldn't constantly bash me for more updates. Cause they know that I have a life outside of fan fictions.

625630 I think it's more of the type of story and how you treat your audience. For example, authors who do short, comedic stories that everyone can take a laugh at will receive relatively larger following and, as an extension, more 'moars'; While on the other hand, an author who takes his/her time will receive a smaller following and, as a consequence, less 'moars'.

However, this isn't always true and the reasons always very from author to author and following to following.

To avoid crossing it, that's a much more varied thing. Ultimately, it's up to the authors to decide where it stops and how to deal with it.

Well, those are my two cents on the subject.

625656
I agree, making self-imposed deadlines is a great way to help deal with the pressure of obligation.

And to be honest, I don't think there is a strict line where it stops being fun and starts being obligation. I think the line should be more when it stops being fun and starts being a chore. If you enjoy doing something, then it being an obligation makes little to no matter. If you don't like doing something, then an obligation can become a problem, regardless if it's a real obligation or not.

Try to keep your work from being seen too much, develop a cult following.
Seems to be the best option, imo.

From being experienced with a situation like this (not Fimfiction, per se, but my 4Chan writings which eventually find their way on here) I tend to just say "I update when it's convenient, because I have a life beyond writing stories about pastel-colored equines", and that usually works in terms of quelling the readers' cravings for more. Most of the time, the readers are just wanting some closure; they want to have some idea of when you will update. But depending on the situation (at least for me) I usually don't take much more than two weeks to hammer out a chapter for my readers. I feel two weeks is more than enough time for any author to put out at least either a chapter, or an explanation of why it is taking so long.

As for what separates fun and obligation, of course things get bland after a while. You get other interests, as do all other people in the world. The best advice I can give is to just walk away from it for a while. Go outside, play some video games, get some exercise, do whatever you can to take your mind off of the writing. Always remember: you are not obligated to anything that someone on the Internet tells you to do. Of course, it's polite and courteous to do so, as it shows a certain level of maturity and reliability on your part, but you are not at all required to do it. You are the author. You set the pace. You write the story. Not the readers. They are only there to read your trivial ass drippings; not theirs.

I doubt I'll ever get a huge following, my story isn't a one shot clopfic or comedy. But yes it is difficult to write sometimes you just have to be in the right mood. If you aren't motivated, then the chapter doesn't get done. I mean seriously, even if your fans berate you to make more chapters does that really accomplish anything? I would take as much time as I needed to develop a good chapter, not how long people think it needs to take. You can't rush quality.

625630
I know that I like to make people happy. I like to make them laugh, smile, and cry if need be. That's what keeps me going as a writer. If I can brighten just one person's day, then I've done my job. Basically, I just seek this satisfaction with my writing.

I wouldn't know, my following is almost non-existent.

625638 Now I've never quite understood that. My creative process demands that I'm always changing what I do, so I do tend to write a lot of one-shot and switch between fics almost at random, even though I don't post most of them. Readers need to understand that some writers can't maintain focus the way they seem to expect.

For my part, as soon as it stops being enjoyable, I become physically incapable of writing. I've got any number of fics that stop mid-sentence because the joy suddenly went out of the process. That's when I know I've crossed that particular line into obligation.

I burned myself out in the past over obligation to readers. It didn't do my health any good, and the clincher to breaking that particular habit was finding out that they didn't care. They'd become consumers, expecting things from me as if it was my duty to continue. I hated disappointing them but it was necessary for my own sanity.

Even though I've seriously slowed down my posting, no one has given me a hard time over it, or said anything mean at all in fact. Either I'm just lucky or my followers have much more important things to do than complain about me. (I'm thinking probably the latter.)

625630
What little following I gained, I mostly gained by deliberately trying to alienate, horrify and insult people, so there isn't that much pressure.

If it gets to you too much, then just start a new account and write over there.
Or try to trim the fat by writing that thing you think of and say, "oh, everyone would hate me if I published that." I say try, because FimFiction is filled with contrary motherfuckers that will read your gorefic about Celestia trying to kill herself or your dumbfic told entirely through post-it notes and make them the most popular things you've written. Jerks.

I think there are two main ways of handling it.

The first is to avoid the situation entirely. Think of what you're going to do, whether it's something you'll enjoy. Plan ahead. Make sure that what you're starting is something you will enjoy doing, rather than something you feel obligated to do. When I finished my first story, I had some readers ask for a sequel. I had little idea of where to go with it, nothing that really caught my interest, despite the potential, so I politely declined. When I later had a series of ideas that lead me to want to write more in the setting, then I started a new story, because it was something I was actually excited to do.

And the second is to know when to quit. There's a strong inclination toward "sunk cost" thinking; you've put so much time into a story, people want more, so it'd be a shame to just quit... even if you're no longer enjoying it, or even hating the time spent on it. It's an absolute shame when a good story gets canceled because the author can no longer sustain interest, but it's not going to be any better if they're feeling forced into writing something they dislike, and a canceled story is, sadly, better than an incomplete story that's abandoned, taunting you with the (nonexistent) possibility of updating despite the author having moved on. This sense of obligation is why we get so many "incomplete" stories that will never update, because the author has no interest in continuing them, but doesn't feel comfortable marking them "canceled." Many are reluctant to even switch a story over to "on hiatus." Ideally, this is never needed (See the first section), but it's still important to keep in mind. If I'm writing a story that I enjoy, for itself, then it's not just easy to continue on, I'll want to continue on. If not... perhaps it's time to reconsider how I'm spending my time.

You're not making money off it, so it really is best to consider your own needs, as an author, first.

As for handling the pressure... well, fortunately, that's not one I've had to deal with, personally. The best I could recommend is clear communication and patience. Let your followers know what you're thinking on the subject, speak with them politely, but always remember that this is something you do as a pass-time, not a job. Until they're paying you to write, you're the one who makes the call on what gets done, so make sure it's something you enjoy. Hopefully, everyone else will enjoy it, too.

625693 Yeah see, I met an author who got top ten in the New York Times at a signing; someone asked if it all just came to him, he said that it was about 5% of it just coming to him and 95% agony. I also just can't bring myself to abandon it, because I do like to write it, it's just the situation is difficult and I have a writer's block.

I think part of what leads to the shift from fun to obligation can be the stress of maintaining a cyber-identity. The way we 'exist' online is through our work - when we're not publishing (journals, stories, etc.) we can easily feel invisible, especially among such a gigantic sea of fics. This can lead to more pressure to keep making things, even when we're not feeling it.

Avoid crossing that line by setting personal deadlines based on your life and feeling good about your writing, not on what others may expect of you.

I considered pressure before I even got a... Somewhat decent following. I've never wanted to disappoint, but that's always inevitable. Somebody's not gonna like your story, no matter how hard you try. Once you can accept this, it's much easier to write.

While not a person with much of a following here, I do have a moderately-sized group elsewhere. I find that shooting for those followers certainly helps to buoy your own goals and expectations of yourself, so it is worth shooting there in the first place.

As for the pressure, remember that this site is free, and your content is free. No matter how much your fans ask, YOU have unilateral control over that content. Do you honestly think they will be able to bitch long enough to give up on you? Doubtful, if you're popular.

625630

To be honest, I've never really had any issues along that line. I mean certainly I've had some suggestions that I continue with a one-shot, or a multi-parter I consider finished (though I reserve author's prerogative to add more if I think it needs it, as in QDYH), but that sort of thing is a given.

I like to think that in the case of something unfinished, the readers are aware that I'm going to finish it, but only when I think it's done 'right.'

As an example: 'Ballad of the Two Sisters.' An incredibly complex piece of work - do you think I'd be doing myself or myself any favors if I just rushed part three out the door?

I'm pretty sure I crossed that line and didn't even know it.

Damn... I need to change tactics.

I don't think such a line exists. I've gained a few followers with "A World Apart", and now I feel like I've got people waiting - but it's still fun. I both feel obligated to hurry, but I still enjoy writing. The thing is I have a really hard time with procrastination (like for instance, reading and replying to threads in forums ), so while the pressure does press, I actually like it a little bit, because it encourages me to stop wasting my time and be productive with it, instead.

I hate nothing more than a day where I look back and say - I did nothing! What a waste of time!

625656

There have been quite a few times when I've cranked out my best work because the deadline is tomorrow. It's like magic or something.

Personally, I feel like there was more pressure to keep updating regularly when I was doing a long, multi-part story. And it wasn't entirely because I had lots of followers waiting. I wanted to keep updating so that the thing would eventually get done. Without deadlines I could've still been working on it now, over a year later.

Now I'm mostly focusing on shorter stories and oneshots, and I don't really post those unless I'm happy with them. There's no reason to release subpar work just because you feel like you should put something up.

I just wish I had more motivation and worthwhile story ideas...

I run a gaming community. It's the same thing really, have fun with friends, but time goes by and you get big, it becomes a resposibility to your loyal people instead of fun. I never expected to become popular here... but I knew damn well about the obligation that would come with it.

It's a hassle, but to me, at the end of the day, it's worth it. I can look back to the glory days of my gaming world with pride. While the golden days of RAWCG have long since passed, it'll forever be the cause of many a joyful memory. Here, I'm barely coming up to my glory days (I hope!) and I'm well prepared for the pressure and the mental anguish that comes with them.

But I think, in the end, it'll all be worth it.

TLDR You can't avoid crossing that line. Unless it takes you so long to get there that you simply give up before you do.

And you need to be prepared for what awaits you on the other side of that line. You need to be prepared to handle the pressure. If I had a dollar for every writer I'm following who's had some kind of mental breakdown in a blog post here, I'd have... at least enough to buy a really nice lunch. Seriously though, it's a damn plague. And I feel sorry for them, I really do, and I'd gladly offer a shoulder to cry on to anyone. But the fact of the matter is, and mind you this is a lesson you MUST learn to even live a normal LIFE, you HAVE to be able to just suck it up and move on. I learned that one the hard way in freshman year of highschool.

Maybe the pressure here, after a few mental breakdowns, will toughen you up improve your character, social skills, and mental stability.

625977 <- This makes perfect sense. I too need the pressue sometimes. After not updating Last Brony for like 3 months, people finally started bothering me about it so much that I was actually motivated to write.

Oh god. I don't even want to go into this.
There is a line, and that line is so blurred it is so hard to realize it when you've crossed it.
With me at least, I wrote for fun. I hoped to get featured, or course, but I wrote for me and whoever was kind enough to notice me.
And then I did featured. And while this may sound weird, I sometimes wish that I didn't. It added pressure. It took away the fun that I had in writing.

But why? Why did me finally getting recognized by people make me so upset? They wanted more. More of what they wanted. And I was constantly worried that what I was writing wasn't what they wanted. And I wanted to do something else! I didn't even like what I was writing when I started. That's changed, of course, though. But back then, I forced myself to write it.

And then one day I had enough. I stopped writing. I just stopped.
And I regretted it. I missed writing.

I went back, tentevilly writing more. And I came to a cliché conclusion. Screw what they want. Write what you want. Most often, what you want and they want is the same thing.

I usually find that, especially with larger works breaking 50k, it's much better to write everything out--at least roughly--before posting. Not only does that ensure regular update scheduling, with time for last-minute revisions, but it also allows you to go back and change your own in-story canon, an option unavailable if you've already posted the relevant update.

I will admit, it can be a little frustrating when nine out of every ten comments on a new update are cries for "Moar".

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the fact that so many people really like my fic (and my first fanfic at that, to say that I wasn't expecting such success would be a laughable understatement), but srsly gais.
srsly.

As far as the pressure thing goes, I like it. In fact, I need it. I have never finished any personal endeavor in my life, mainly due to my extreme procrastination issues (like right now, ha!) and my lack of proper attention span. I have lots of (presumably) good ideas for stuff, but I never finish any of them before something new catches my fancy and the old project is left to sit fallow in whatever poor orphaned folder I kept it in. My computer and notebooks are litered with the skeletal bones of previous works, and it'll be a while before any of them see the light of day, if ever.

But then I actually worked up the courage to publish something. I felt that the first chapter was looking good, and if I didn't publish it then, it'd never get published. A few hours later, and the thing is featured.

The only reason why I might just have the fortitude to finish my fic will be because of the fans who want to see it finished. They're love of my story is the encouragement that keeps me going.

625977

Interesting. I find that one-shots give me greater variance. Some of what I consider my best, and the one time I made EQD, have been 2000-5000 words, but also some that I think are my worse. My epics regress to the mean.

Also, as a general thread response, some professional authors I've read talk about writing time and how important it is. That you must have time set aside every day, even if it's only a half hour, but that you have to protect it to the death. During that time, you must write and do nothing else. I don't work that way, in fact I prefer to have some distractions, but it makes sense.

I don't do deadlines any more. I get mixed feelings when people see some of my oneshots and go 'Moar is needed!', especailly when sequels weren't in the original idea. It's great that they enjoy it, but it's a bit cumbersome when I have to write stuff just because some people want me to.

That said, sequels are a good way of continuing to get more followers while putting more attention on previous works. As for pressure, I don't get any. People don't PM me or badger me, they just ask and I deliver to the best of my abilities. My goal is always to tell a good story and enjoy myself while letting others enjoy themselves with my works. If people think the stories aren't worth the wait, then... why should I care? If they like my stuff, they'll read it when it's finished. All other things are irrelevant.

The pressure is a good thing for me. I'd still be writing without it, but much slower. Knowing that a group of people are willing to spend their time on my stuff is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
Fortunately I'm writing fast enough to easily keep up with my modest once a month post rate!

Things that are guaranteed to happen once you become popular:

1. You become known for That One Story, that's all people read and comment on. Your other fics could as well be written by a newbie by how obscure they are, but That One Story has dozens of spinoffs, parodies and imitators. Everything you do afterwards will be compared to That One Story, usually unfavorably. And even if you do cave in and do a direct sequel/spiritual sucessor, people won't care cus all they want is That One Story.

2. You become the target of hatred by the sort of people who've gotten it in their head that every aspect of pop culture has to cater directly to them, as tough they are the only people that matter and who go after anything which happens to be popular trough a demographics that is not them. Everything you do will be filtered trough the lens that you are a bad writer who only got popular due to people being stupid as opposed to simply creating something, good or bad, that many people ended up enjoying.

3. Everyone's gonna have an idea in their mind of who you are, probably an inaccurate one, and feel like they know you without actually having met or talked with you. Be prepared to deal with a lot of clumpsy oversocial fans. (Granted this prospect might bother me more than most since I'm kind of an introvert and get a little terrified of people...)

4. You'll have created an image for yourself where your name is synonymous with a particular style, which is all anyone will ever expect from you. Try something different and it'll at best be seen as a gimmick ("it's Stephen King writing a High Fantasy story!") and at worst it'll be completely forgotten (Like Bad Religions prog rock album).

5. The last fic you do will always be your worst ever because people haven't gotten as acclimted to it as the other fics. Also, your output will be shoehorned into some sort of "storyline", that is anything is either your best work ever or a sign of gradual decline, there's apparently no way someone can simply be uneven or put out one or two bad stories once in a while the rest is good.

Maybe I'm unduly harsh, but that's basically the sort of thing I'm afraid of whenever a story threatens to get too many likes. I simply don't think I'm the sort of author that should be famous, I'd flame out in a spectacular fashion I promise you. There's nothing worse for a fringe artist than to find themselves in the mainstream...

I don't think the pressure to create more would be much of a problem. As anyone who's argued with me knows, I'm kind of a rude person and I have no problem going "It'll be done when it's done, don't get your panties in a twist!" The thing I'm mostly worried about is people's perceptions. Has anyone really found a way to deal with the fact that once your story is out there, it doesn't quite belong to you anymore, people will insert their own context and interpet it their own way. And that' awesome, that's what art is all about, but it's still a very unpredictable process and it unnerves my poor little logical mind...

Meh, I usually set myself with a self imposed standard for the quality of writing.
For me, I am rather obsessive about the golden standard when it comes to something enjoyable, not just merely readable. Unfortunately, I usually get myself stuck with how to describe a certain scene the way I want to convey to the reader to feel. Uncertainty clouds my vision, and I have no idea as to how the reader will interpret my chapters.

Its a headache inducer to be sure.

I don't have a following, but I put out a chapter at least every week (school can be annoying) But I'm just happy that I can write something that other people also enjoy

I generally inform my readers of what is happening in regards to the story and set out rough time frames to when it will be finished, I don't update fast but when I do, I update a heavy load of writing on my poor readers (20,000 word chapter soon, woohoo!). Anyway, it seems my readers are a patient bunch, so I don't have much problems with extreme pressure, I usually set aside my weekend times to write out more for chapter for the fic.

I don't (well, I do sort of, but I think its better with a long edit) write well under pressure, but what I do get out seems to be a huge swathe of words which previously would have taken ages to slowly and painstakingly write in an informal manner. I normally edit these huge editions by putting them through quality control later, which usually takes about a week. once this is done I have the bulkiness of a large chapter and the refinement of a small detailed one, which is appealing to me... or maybe I am just been overconfident about my own abilities, who knows!